I used to be a big fan in wood and blue. However, as I age I like stainless and synthetic more and more. S & S will never compare to wood and blue for beauty, but durability, ease of care and the total lack of fear of hunting and shooting in less than bluebird days is great.
As each year goes by I get pickier and pickier about things like trigger pull, fine sights, and repeatability. I would like to say it is all about maturing in my shooting (aging eyes requiring the gun to do more), but I think it has more to do with poor decisions made in trying to save a few pennies on "utility guns" in the past. Today I will spend twice as much to get a good gun that will out preform me rather than buying low price and trying to figure out what is wrong with what I'm doing.
Good luck on the search.